Fantasy Basketball Du-Rant

Starting today, the Daily Fantasy Basketball Du-Rant is going to take on a slightly different approach. I will continue to provide you daily recommendations in an A, B, C, D format, but am going to tweak the picks by now providing you with player(s) that may make for good GPP selections (Guaranteed Prize Payout tournaments) and separate players that may be more geared towards DU (Double Up) contests. In essence, not much will change except for the recommendations will become a little more contest specific.

For some of you fairly new to Daily League play, the difference is that in GPP tournaments you not only want to seek out the best players and the best values, but you also want to try and find those players that will not be as highly owned. It is all fine and dandy to roster say Paul George in a GPP tournament, but if he is over 60% owned, your are not really setting your team apart from others. So, for my GPP picks I will try and recommend players who could be in line for a good performance, but may also be less owned, which if they hit, would increase your chances of finishing towards the top.

For the Double-Up or 50/50 recommendations, I will simply place “DU” in front of their names. In the DU formats it is often better to roster the players that will tend to be the safer choices, since all you have to do is beat half the field, thus it is better to limit your risks in these types of contests. Got it? Get it? Good, now let’s get into the meat and potatoes for Friday night’s actions with the picks of the night in the Daily Dandies section below.

Daily Dandies

For those of you checking out my recommendations for the first time, I group the players in A,B,C,D Tiers as a play on the old A,B,C,D basketball camps and as an easy way to distinguish player tiers. (All prices are according to Draft Street). If you have any specific questions post them in the comments section and I will answer them asap or send me a tweet by clicking on my twitter handle at the top of this article. To see who is starting each night visit our NBA Lineups Page

 

A-All Star priced players that should put up All Star stats today (target 35+ FP, $15,000-on up).

GPP

* F Andre Iguodala (15%) many may shy away from Iggy with the news Steph Curry may play tonight, but even if Curry does play Iguodala has actually performed better when Curry has played.

DU
* C Andre Drummond (15.5%) has finished with 32-plus Fantasy Points on DraftStreet in each of his last six games, can not get more consistent than that.

B-rated Ballers: Big name players with big games, but not as high of a price tag as the top five or so priced players at each position (around 30 FP, $12,000-$15,000).

GPP
* C Al Jefferson (13.9%) will start and head coach Steve Clifford said Jefferson will not have a limits restriction. This is the epitome of a risky play, but the high risk/high reward nature of rostering Jefferson is what makes him a good GPP play tonight as many owners may shy away from him due to their lack of confidence that he will actually play a lot and/or be effective after missing the last four games and nine altogether this season.

* G Trey Burke (11.7%) Jazz head coach Tyrone Corbin said he plans to up Burke’s minutes by playing him in each quarter and even more importantly, have him close out the quarters. And, it will be more likely that Burke sees extended minutes if Gordon Hayward (GTD-knee) does not play.

DU
* Jordan Hill (13.2%) has the second highest rebounding percentage in the NBA and has scored in double-digits in each of his last four games making him a viable option in your Daily League contest tonight against a Warriors team  that is allowing the eighth most Fantasy Points to the center position this season.

* G Shaun Livingston (12.2%) Deron Williams has been ruled out due to an ankle injury and Livingston has been solid in his two previous starts when DWill missed with 17 points and 3.5 assists per game.
 

C-as in players that COULD be in line to provide you with good to great value in the mid-tier price range (target 25+ FP, $8,000-$12,000).

GPP

* F Lavoy Allen (9.6%)  although Daniel Orton will likely start with Thaddeus Young missing another game due to personal reasons, Allen is the better Fantasy option, if Wednesday’s game is any indication as Allen played 24 minutes to Orton’s 17 and Allen has the higher upside.

* G Rodney Stuckey (9.2%) although Caldwell-Pope is starting, Rodney Stuckey is the player to target in Daily League contests as he has been more consistent and provided more Fantasy production than the rook.

DU

* G Martell Webster (11.4%) Continue to roll out Martell Webster who is averaging over 15 points, six rebounds, and two assists in three games as a starter this season as Trevor Ariza is out again tonight.

* Gerald Green (9.5%) Eric Bledsoe is still bothered by his shin injury, and is unlikely to play tonight versus the Bobcats. Green had over 32 Fantasy Points on DraftStreet in his last start in place of the injured Bledsoe.

* C Andray Blatche (9.6%) Brook Lopez is out again and Blatche is avgeraging 18 points and over 6 rebounds since Lopez has been sidelined.

 

D-Discounted Dandies: Players on the cheap whose production may exceed what their discounted price tag suggests. (Double Digit Fantasy Production, $3,500-$8,000).

GPP

* G Alec Burks (7.9%) if Gordan Hayward does not play than Burks, too should see extended minutes against a Mavs team that is allowing the fourth most Fantasy Points to shooting guards this season.

DU

* F Richard Jefferson (7.2%) with Marvin Williams (broken nose) and Gordon Hayward (knee) game-time decisions Jefferson should continue to see extended minutes and has finished with 22 or more Fantasy Points in two of his last three games while playing 32-plus minutes in his last five games, including 41 minutes in his last game.